title: Clinical outcomes of bilateral single-stage unicompartmental knee arthroplasty.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Deciding whether to treat patients with bilateral arthritis with two-stage or bilateral single-stage arthroplasties is a cause of considerable debate in orthopaedic surgery.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 394 cemented Unicompartmental Knee Arthroplasties (UKA) were performed in this unit between 2006 and 2010. A retrospective review identified 38 patients (76 knees) who underwent bilateral Single-Stage Sequential UKA, performed by a single surgeon.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean BMI was 29.8 and the majority of patients were ASA grade 2. The mean duration of follow-up was 30 months. The mean total tourniquet time was 83 min. The mean post-operative haemoglobin was 11.8 and no patient required blood transfusion. The mean time to mobilisation was 18 h and the average length of stay was 3.5 days. This compares favourably with an institutional average length of stay of two days for a single UKA. There was a significant improvement in the mean pre- to post-operative OKS (from 14 to 34, p<0.0001). One patient required operative fixation of a tibial plateau fracture after sustaining a mechanical fall two months following surgery. There were no other major complications, including thrombo-embolic events or deep infections. Two patients required excision of a superficial suture granuloma.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Bilateral Single-Stage Sequential UKAs provide significant improvement in patient function and can be performed safely with a low complication rate. Patients can benefit from a single hospital admission and anaesthetic whilst the shorter total in-patient stay reduces costs incurred by the hospital.
  
  
  METHODS
  IV.
authors.affiliation: Department of Trauma and Orthopaedics, Hillingdon and Mount Vernon Hospital, Pield Heath Road, Uxbridge, Middlesex, UB8 3NN, United Kingdom. Electronic address: surgery@me.com.
authors.forename: K S N
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Akhtar
authors.affiliation: Department of Trauma and Orthopaedics, Hillingdon and Mount Vernon Hospital, Pield Heath Road, Uxbridge, Middlesex, UB8 3NN, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Somashekar
authors.affiliation: Department of Trauma and Orthopaedics, Hillingdon and Mount Vernon Hospital, Pield Heath Road, Uxbridge, Middlesex, UB8 3NN, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Willis-Owen
authors.affiliation: Department of Trauma and Orthopaedics, Hillingdon and Mount Vernon Hospital, Pield Heath Road, Uxbridge, Middlesex, UB8 3NN, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: D G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Houlihan-Burne
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D019645:Arthroplasty, Replacement, Knee / Q000379:methods*; D001843:Bone Cements; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006400:Hematocrit; D006454:Hemoglobins / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D061646:Operative Time; D020370:Osteoarthritis, Knee / Q000601:surgery; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D011184:Postoperative Period; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014111:Tourniquets
chemical_list: D001843:Bone Cements; D006454:Hemoglobins
keywords: Arthritis; Bilateral; Single-stage; Unicompartmental